IMO the best teacher/mentor is the bees them selves. I say get as many as you feel comfortable with and can afford to loose. Don't worry about what to do with the honey.....its real easy to give it away and also other keepers who sell at farmers markets will often buy some to suppliment what they produce. With more than just a few hives you are going to have to come up with some sort of plan to extract and dispose of it though. I am starting to make mead with some of mine and I give most away. You can keep what ever # of hives you want, as long as you stay away from swarm collection and cutouts.

I started with 2. Both were thriving hives. One is busting at the seems and the other is doing well. After having hives for a few months I can really see the benefit of having 2 as a starting point.

I just bought a 3rd on Friday as I want to have 3 or 4 in my back yard. I can't do anymore than that from a practicality standpoint but there are many orange groves near by and I am already thinking of working a deal with them to trade the use of the location for the pollination. Of course I get to keep the honey.

I would say for those folks who have a mentor stick with him/her for a while until you know what you are doing then start with whatever amount you feel comfortable with. If you dont have a mentor then i'd say go with one, get comfortable with it then start your expansion.

Personally I would say two or three. There are definite advantages to having more than one. Being able to swap frames of young brood to a queenless hive for example. Having two also helps to show up problems that are only occuring in one hive, as the changes are only reflected in that one, and you can look to the others for confirmation of whether things are progressing normally.

I started just over two years ago with a feral hive and later ordered three packages of russians. Fortunately another new beek lives real close to me so I had something to compare mine with. The ferals are awesome as are last years russians.

I used what I saw on the outside of the hive for a referance that first eight to nine months and it has become a habit in the morning with a cup of coffee. Again around midday and afternoon/evening.

There is a book somewhere about watching the outside of the hive to get an idea what's going on inside. Gotta find it for my Christmas present. That may be an option for you...or not.

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Everyone said it couldn't be done. But he with a chuckle replied, "I won't be one to say it is so, until I give it a try." So he buckled right in with a trace of a grin. If he had a worry he hid it and he started to sing as he tackled that thing that couldn't be done, and he did it. (unknown)